Listen Live
   
Rickey Smiley Birthday Beach Blowout 2024
Rickey Smiley Morning Show Featured Video
CLOSE

Hip-hop can get a bad rep at times, especially when people choose to focus on the violence and misogyny that a handful of emcees tend to spew out in their songs. However, there’s also a lot of positive influence associated with the art form based on the genre’s popularity.

Chicago rapper Lil Durk is choosing to align his artistry with the latter by using his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation to give back in a huge way to teens on the South Side where he was raised. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OUR APP AND TAKE US WITH YOU ANYWHERE!

 

Text “RICKEY” to 71007 to join the Rickey Smiley Morning Show mobile club for exclusive news. (Terms and conditions).

Through Neighborhood Heroes, Durk hopes to show the teens of Englewood that a positive career path is possible with the launch of a new readiness program. The nonprofit plans on “investing time, money, and resources” into these kids to let them see a new outlook on life away from street life. “We’ll be flying the first cohort of 20 young men to NYC to meet with C-Suite executives from Sony, Alamo Records, and the NY Knicks as they’ll be shadowing these seasoned professionals that look like them and share similar stories,” they wrote in the Instagram announcement (seen above), going on to add, “Then we’re off to our HBCU College tour in ATL. They’ll familiarize themselves with a few historic institutions that have accredited college programs that’ll support their journey.”

The initiative is set to conclude with a YellaWood 500 experience, featuring plans to hit up the NASCAR Playoffs at Talladega Superspeedway. The young men are scheduled to meet with C-Suite execs that will open up about careers in the lucrative enterprise and further the budding bond between the Black community and NASCAR. “We ain’t never had that growing up,” Durk told NBC 5 Chicago, further elaborating by stating, “We was looking for that type of guidance and ain’t have it, so I’m just trying to be different.”

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER!

We give major props to Lil Durk for showing our young Black youth at risk of becoming victims of Chicago’s rampant gang culture an alternate escape plan from the hood. Learn more about the Neighborhood Heroes Foundation by clicking here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdHqkgRuZCj/

LATEST POSTS:

Celebrities From Chicago [PHOTOS]
2014 BET Experience At L.A. LIVE - Genius Talks Presented By RushCard - Day 2
10 photos

HEAD TO THE RICKEYSMILEYMORNINGSHOW.COM HOMEPAGE

Lil Durk Launches Career Readiness Program For South Side Chicago Youth  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com